Ex-President Moon sues veterans minister for defaming his father

Veterans Minister Park Min-shik, center, speaks during a parliamentary meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sept. 6. Yonhap

Former President Moon Jae-in filed a defamation complaint against Veterans Minister Park Min-shik on Tuesday for suggesting that his father was a pro-Japanese figure, according to an opposition lawmaker.

The minister made the remark during a parliamentary meeting last week, claiming Moon's father served in a regional government in Hungnam, a city in what is now North Korea, during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Moon's side rejected the claim, saying the deceased served in the position after the colonial rule ended.

"Former President Moon filed a complaint against Minister Park for defaming the deceased this morning," said Rep. Youn Kun-young of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, who served as Moon's senior presidential secretary, in a text message sent to reporters.

The minister's remarks came in the context of a comparison to another historical figure, Gen. Paik Sun-yup, who is widely credited for his contributions to the country during the Korean War of 1950-1953.

Despite being credited with leading key battles during the conflict, a presidential committee put Paik on a list of pro-Japanese figures in 2009, citing his military service for Manchukuo, a puppet state of Imperial Japan, during Tokyo's colonial rule. (Yonhap)